Apparatus for mixing and pouring a quick-setting material



Feb 21, 1950 T. J. FOSTER 2,493,363

APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND POURING A QUICK SETTING MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet1 `-Filed May 1l, 1946 5 Sheets-Sham*I 2 Nm m. .AW L \ww/ :Aj *R l E I1H M W l| A mw. m wm QQN l I l w J. m I ,r T la y m I m ,M A I I m I j mf m I I T Y@ nu w B Feb. 2l, 1950 T. J. FOSTER APPARATUS FOR MIXING ANDPOURING A QUICK SETTING MATERIAL Filed May ll, 1946 T. J. FOSTER2,498,363 APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND POURING A QUICK SETTING MATERIAL Feb.2l, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 1l, 1946 T. J. FOSTER APPARATUS FORMIXING AND POURING A QUICK SETTING MATERIAL Feb. 21, 1950 5 SheetsfSheet4 Filed May" 1l, 1946 INVENTOR. THMS J. FSTE R BY @n/LM l vjam/wy ATTOREYS Feb. 21, 1950 T. J. FOSTER 2,498,363

APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND POURING A QUICK SETTING MATERIAL Filed May l1,1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 153 a 136 jb 140 INVENToR. THOMAS J. FOSTERPatented Feb. 21, '1950 APPARATU SrlFRi'MIXIN GnANDz'IGURINGA f QU-IGK*SETTING-MATERIAL Thomas J i Foster, Ridgewood; N J Application May 1,1,1946,-iseriar-Nosesagosl 3" Claims. El

...This invention'. relatesVZ to means for. preparing precast-wal. loor:or-.-ceilingpanel s, etc.,\ useful :ein: the erection f :of Jbuildings.@ne .example of such .panels is.describedland claimed. in my. Patent No.2,305,684. .-Suchpanels:advantageously aremade..fromiquickrsetting.plaster or eementi- ..tioussmater-ial .l suchas, gypsum containing vercmiculite. ..Heretofore..the4 component panelmaterials.y haveuloeen` mixedl luy-hand. or. by moreror lessconventional mixing equipment necessitatning. handperations.Lhavesdiscovered a. novel o combination sof. .instrumentalities and.operations whereby. an automatic mixerumay .beusednot only ascameansfor .mixingnuick --setting .batchesi-of material :but also` .forpoiuring the.. softmixture ...directly yinto. ...the ..panelmoldingiramesin ,which .thematerial is.-.-to. Iharden andfonscreedingfit into ,nalv position.

llt. is.an .obj ectof` my` inventions. to,provide. apparatus. .suchas=..exen1plifiedherein haring.` .to ..a notable extentzlthe..characteristics and. capabilities set .forth An .additional..object is'; .thepro vision of azmixingland pouringapparatushayingparticular utilityb in .tl-1e., manufacturing of 1,precastbuilding,..panels. Aiffunthenobjectresides in..the..,provision of. a.combination .,o. .mixing4 and .,pouring` apparatuses. and..-.operationswhereby a .'ullesize, precastpanel, maybe poured Nvithamin- ,imumofshandoperations. Afstilliurthen object .residesin theprovision ,oan improvedapparatus for manufacturing fbuildi-ng panels ewhich. overcomeseertainiwelleknown.disadvantages.inherent '..in .the apparatuses of. the,prionart \...O.ther. 'objects .l will. beinpart .pointed .out.aslthadescrptionl proceedsandwill impartsbecometapparent-therefrom.

'stocdthatthis is, not.,.;interdedto..be.. .ezizlnaustive1V .nonlimiting vo thennvention'Z-but onlfthe contrary is given',formurposes.,.o'flillustration.insorderthat others skilled in the cart,may .Lfully `:understand the invention and 'the principles 'thereofandlthe.

"2 Figure 1 isla side elevation,partlyiinsection.and withpartsbrokenaway, of a mixing andpouring fapparatus. `ernbo dying .,my.. invention;

. Figure 2 is a-.fplan vievwof rthe fapparatusillus- Itrated Figurel,A.certain parts'. being .lbroken away;

fFigure.. 3 ...is ya .view taken a1ong.Lline,.-33 of Figure-1;

,Figure 4is aviewtaken alongdineLA--dnof Figure` 1;

. Figure,v 5. ,is-.airagmentary :sectionalz view .oman enlargedscaleoffsome. of. ,theparts appearingin Figure l4 showingthemat a. diierentstage ofi-the .process and,

2 I and .a :pair .of opposing. structurally strong,

`endplates` .22 andf 24. Plate., 22 .is provided :with ...a Ycentralhullo.26` and .plate 24 .is .provided vvvitha central hub 28. Thehubs-are fitted intoandsupported .bya *pair of trunnions. 30 .and .32whichain ,.turnare supportedloya frame. .(seealso'Figures 2; and. 3) As.shown yin. Figure .1 theirame includes .a motorbracket supportingareversi- `.ble motor. 38.,.connectedto a reducing gearflland driving ashaft-142. -ShaftgdZ ...extendsfthrough the drrurn and is.reelyrotatable thereinwi'thin bearings 44 .andi Mimounted. infthe hubs.L'I'he shaft carries four, spiders 48,.'.50,1.52 and`54 .(see

. Figures 1A and/l) `Within theldrurnan'd,eachfspder f is locked to.theshaft soastobe rotated bymotor '38. "Figure 4 showslthat the. legsofeach. spider are arcuate. Each .leg supports 'three stirring .blades'iwhichV extend longitudinally through .the drumparallel to shaft"42. ThusWhenshaft 42 isdriven byr moto1""38. tor move the Vstirring blades in.the direction of the arrows the mixture is moved toward'the center of'they' drum.

tangular opening 58 (see Figures 1 and 4)v'vhifch extendstacross thedrumfrom one .endvplateto theother. ""When theopeningispositioned atv,the.uppermost part ofthe drum (seeFigure'4) it, serves. as an Ainletthrough .which `vmaterial to .be mixedY mayv befpassed, vand when .the`.drum isv rotated. inthe .trunnions through 180 (see Figure) .as ,willbe ',ilescribed"y hereinafter;vv the opening serves Las `an .outletthrough which. mixed .cementitioussmaterial may be poured. '.lSo long"as the opening isat the top. of the drum no leakage i of liquidlfromthe. drum. can-)occult Opening,..58.is. fitted lwith. a door'i 60.(see." Figures 2 and 4). This door is welded along one edge to a doorrod 62 supported at each end in end plates 22 and 24. Intermediate doorrod supports are indicated (see Figure 2) at 64 and 66. Rod 82 carriesupon one end a door lever 68. As shown in Figure 3, end plate 24includes an arcuate door stop member l provided with stop portions 12,14 and 16. Door lever 68 is sufficiently resilient that it may be sprungoutwardly so as to clear the projecting portions of stop member 'I8 andthus be moved into any one of the three stops shown. When door lever 68is positioned in stop 16, as shown `in Figure 3, the door completelycloses opening 58. When the lever is in stop 'I4 door 60 assumes theposition shown in solid lines in Figure 5 and is locked partly open forscreeding purposes, as will be described hereinafter. When lever 68 ispositioned in stop 'I2 the door is locked in the wide-open positionshown in Figure 4.

In Figure 3 a pair of arcuate cylinder stops 'I8 and 80 are shown. Theseare located on diametrically opposed rim portions of end plate 24.

' Arcuate piece `|8 is provided with a stop 82 and arcuate piece 80 isprovided with a stop 84. A cylinder lock lever 86 carrying a detent 88serves to lock the cylinder against rotation within trunnions 30 and 32.When detent 88 is interltted with stop 82, the drum is locked withopening 58 facing the bottom of the apparatus; when detent 88 is lockedin stop 84, the drum is locked with opening 58 at the top of theapparatus.

Lever 86 is carried upon a pivot 98 in a support 92 (see Figures 2 and3) and it is biased by a compression spring 94 which tends to urge thedetent toward locked position. When lever 86 is pivoted away from thedrum, the drum may be freely turned, by hand in the present embodiment,in trunnions 30 and 32.

With the construction described the various materials to be mixed may beloaded into the cylinder when the cylinder is lpositioned as shown inFigure 4. Door 6I) may then be closed and the stirring blades may thenbe rotated, advantageously in the direction shown by the arrows inFigure 4, by means of motor 38. When the mixing is complete the drum maybe unlocked and rotated to .bring the door and opening to the lowermostpoint, as shown in Figure 5, and the cylinder may then be locked againstfurther rotation. The door can be swung open and the mixed contentsallowed to pour out. During the pouring the motor may advantageously berun in reverse so as to promote an even flow of mixed material throughopening 58.

In order to pour the mixed cementitious material directly into a panelframe I have mounted the mixing apparatus upon a novel carriage andsubcarriage combination whereby the mixing apparatus may be pushed,manually in the present embodiment, from one frame to another and canbev used to aid in pouring the mixture into the molds.

Frame 34 is mounted upon a -pair of axles 96 and lS8 set in bearings 99provided on the under surfaces of the frame. These axles carry wheels|00, |82, |84 and |06 (see Figure 2) which roll upon rails |88 and IIII.Rail |88 is supported by a girder I I2 and rail III) is supported by agirder I I4. These girders, together with cross-members not shown, forma subcarriage I I5 (see Figure 3) for carryingrails |08k and III) andall that they support. The girders roll upon wheels H5, IIS, IZIland |22(see Figure 6). Wheels ||6 and IIB are mounted upon lan axle |24 whichappears in Figure 3. This axle is set in supports |26 carried on thelower portions of girder 4. These last-mentioned wheels roll upon rails|28 and |30.

As shown in Figure 6 rails |28 and |30 extend in a direction parallel tothe axis of rotation of drum 2|); rails |08 and ||0 extend in adirection perpendicular to the axis of rotation of drum 20. Rails |08and IIO may be rolled upon subcarriage I I5 along rails |28 and I 3|)until they are brought into alignment with a pair of rails |32a and I34aon one side of the drum, and |3217 and |341) on the other side of thedrum. Rail U8 fits between the two rail pieces |32a and |32b and rail II0 ts between the two rail pieces |34a and |3421. When the subcarriageis located in the position illustrated in Figure 6, drum 2|! may bemoved off of rails |08 and I Ill to the left onto rails |32a and |34a orto the right onto rails |326 and |3427. Also, by moving the subcarriage,rail |08 may be lplaced between rail |34a and rail |341) and rail ||IJmay be placed between rail |36a and rail '|3617 so that the entire drumapparatus may be rolled either onto rails |3411 and |36a or ontolrails|3417 and |3613. In theillustrative embodiment four panel frames |38,|43, |42 and |44 are shown arranged between the various stationary railpieces. Thus the drum may be rolled over and across any one of the fourframes to pourmixed panel material into a selected frame.

Figure 5 illustrates the drum with opening 58 toward the bottom and withdoor 60 locked partially open in a position such that it just clears theupper edge of frame |38. Thus, as the mixing blades rotate in aclockwise direction, the cementitious material is forced downwardly andout of door 60 and, as the drum moves in the direction of the arrows(see Figure 5), the partially opened door 60 acts as a screed whicheffectively spreads the soft cementitious material level in the panelframe. In` this manner a panel frame may be quickly and accuratelypoured with a quick setting mixed material. It is to be observed thatthe process described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,305,684,above-mentioned, may be carried out along with my present invention.

'After a panel has been poured the drum may be moved back to the centralposition illustrated in Figure 6 and the interior of the cylinder mayreadily be washed down. The drum may then be rotated through to theposition illustrated in Figure 4 and thereafter, by means of a hopperindicated at |46 and a water supply indicated at |48 operating through afunnel indicated at |50, the drum may be recharged with the componentsnecessary for another batch of quick setting material. The motor shouldbe allowed to drive the stirring blades for a sufficient period to mixthe batch and the pouring process may then be repeated for another emptypanel frame. Mixing can take place while the drumis being positionedforpouring the next panel. By the time a fourth panel has been pouredthe rst panel probably can be removed and replaced with a fifth emptyframe. I have found that with the apparatus described satisfactorymixing is accomplished with a mixing period having a duration of about30 or 40 seconds when the mixing blades rotate with a speed of about 40revolutions per minute.

From the foregoing it will be observed that mixing and pouring equipmentembodying my invention are well adapted to attain the ends and objectshereinbefore set forth .and to be'economically manufactured, sincethe"separate fea tures are well suited to common production methods andare subject to a variety of modifications as may be desirable inadapting the invention to different applications.

Since many embodiments of the invention are possible and since manychanges might be made in the embodiments set forth, protection is not tobe limited to anything described or presented in the above specificationand drawings but only to the scope of the hereinafter attached claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination including: adrum, trunnion means supporting said drum for rotation about ahorizontal axis, carriage means supporting said trunnion means andadapted to move said trunnion means and said drum along a generallyhorizontal path perpendicular to the axis about which said drum isrotatable, independently operable mixing means mounted within said drum,means for locking said drum against rotation, opening means extendingacross said drum, and screeding means cooperating with the opening meansto screed mixed material from the drum.

2. Apparatus for mixing and pouring at a predetermined thickness a quicksetting material including: a mixing and pouring drum, trunnionssupporting the drum for rotation, carriage structure supporting thetrunnions and adapted to move the trunnions and drum along a predeter- 6mined path, a loading and pouring opening extending across the drum,drum locking mechanism, independent of the carriage structure, 'forholding the drum against rotation in a loading position or a pouringposition, a door disposed across the drum and adapted to assume aposition closing on' the opening, and an independently operable doorlocking mechanism for holding the door in a pouring position duringpouring to secure a predetermined thickness of the mixture. y

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein the carriage structure is disposedupon a carriage substructure and is movable as a whole by thesubstructure along a second predetermined path.

THOMAS J. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITEDl The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,018,634 Seaver et a1. 1 Feb.27, 1912 1,453,323 Palmeter May 1, 1923 1,483,048 Sturtevant Feb. 5,1924 1,845,367 Totman Feb. 16, 1932 2,201,748 Thomason May 21, 19402,213,243 Facer Sept. 3, 1940

